The HD 4850 X2 is one of those really weird releases. The original word was that the card would launch alongside the HD 4870 X2; clearly it didn't. Word came through that the card was delayed for a week or two, but after that time was up the talk of the card faded.

Move forward to November and we finally have the release of the card. What's interesting about the HD 4850 X2 is that the decision to build the card is completely up to the partner who has to make it themselves.

For that reason, the only company to currently have a HD 4850 X2 floating around on the world wide interweb is from Sapphire. So with that said, let's take the time to have a look at the package Sapphire has put together before we have a closer look at the card and get into the benchmarks.